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* U.S. economy unexpectedly adds jobs in May
* Boeing jumps on hopes of a pickup in air travel
* Novavax up on U.S. defense funding for COVID-19 vaccine
candidate
* Indexes up: Dow 2.60%, S&P 500 2.14%, Nasdaq 1.63%
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By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes jumped on Friday, with
the Nasdaq Composite less than 1% away from a record high, after
a closely watched report showed surprise job additions in May,
lending weight to hopes of a faster economic rebound from a
coronavirus-led slump.
Data from the Labor Department showed nonfarm payrolls rose
by 2.509 million jobs last month after a record plunge of 20.687
million in April, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to
13.3% in May from 14.7% in April. "It's shocking, it's a refreshing thing to experience, a
very positive and a far better-than-expected report," said Randy
Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles
Schwab in Austin, Texas.
"The unemployment rate was likely to peak in May and then
get better from there, but it looks as though it might have
peaked in April, which is a very positive development for the
economy."
The S&P 500 banks sub-index .SPXBK , considered
interest-rate sensitive, jumped 4.8% as U.S. Treasury yields
rose after the data. US/
Boeing Co BA.N gained 9.2%, the biggest boost to the Dow
Jones index .DJI , on hopes of a pickup in air travel a day
after American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O and United Airlines
UAL.O said they would boost their U.S. flight schedule next
month.
The NYSE ARCA Airline index .XAL also jumped 12.9%.
Wall Street has rebounded sharply from a coronavirus-driven
crash in March as investors bet on a revival in business
activity following the easing of a nationwide lockdown.
The S&P 500 .SPX and Dow Jones .DJI indexes are now down
about 6% and 9%, respectively, from their all-time highs.
At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 684.41 points, or 2.60%, at 26,966.23, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 66.68 points, or 2.14%, at 3,179.03 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 157.01 points, or 1.63%, at 9,772.83.
Fears of more disruptions from social unrest have also eased
in the past two days, with the largely peaceful protests against
the killing of a black man in police custody waning into Friday
morning and emergency curfews in many cities being lifted.
Vaccine maker Novavax Inc NVAX.O jumped 7.2% after saying
it would receive up to $60 million from the U.S. Department of
Defense to fund manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Apparel retailer Gap Inc GPS.N fell 4.5% as it reported a
quarterly loss of nearly $1 billion due to coronavirus-induced
store closures. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 8.81-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 4.91-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 18 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 56 new highs and no new low.